Frank Springer
Encyclopedia
Frank Springer was an American
comic book
and comic strip
artist
best known for Marvel Comics
' Dazzler
and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
. Collaborating with writer
Michael O'Donoghue
, Springer created one of the first adult-oriented comics features on American newsstands—The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist
in the magazine Evergreen Review
. A multiple winner of the National Cartoonists Society
's Reuben Award, Springer was a president of the Society and a founding member of the Berndt Toast Gang, its Long Island
chapter.
Frank Springer was born in the Jamaica
neighborhood of the New York City
borough of Queens, and graduated from Malverne High School in Malverne
, Long Island
, New York, in 1948. He had one sibling, a sister, who predeceased him. Springer went on to earn an art degree from Syracuse University
in 1952, and then served with the U.S. Army through 1954, including during the Korean War
, when he drew maps at Fort Dix, New Jersey
. In 1953, he became assistant to cartoonist
George Wunder
on the comic strip Terry and the Pirates
, on which Wunder had succeeded famed creator Milt Caniff. Leaving in 1960 to freelance, Springer broke into comic books two years later with Dell Comics
' Brain Boy
, starring a telepathic government agent created by Herb Castle and Gil Kane
in Four Color Comics #1330 (June 1962). Springer drew the spin-off series' five-issue run of #2-6 (Sept. 1962 - Nov. 1963).
, Springer became a prolific penciler-inker
across much of Dell's line, drawing issues of Ghost Stories, Movie Classic, Tales from the Tomb, Toka: Jungle King, and the movie/TV tie-in series The Big Valley
, Charlie Chan
, Iron Horse and The New People, among other comics.
He debuted at DC Comics
with two comics the same month: penciling Batman
#197, and both penciling and inking the lead feature, "Dial H for Hero
", in House of Mystery
#171 (both Dec. 1967). Springer went on to draw an issue each of Detective Comics
and Our Army at War; an anthological story in another House of Mystery; and the first two issues of Secret Six
— the initial one perhaps uniquely beginning its story on the cover rather than on the inside page one.
After that smattering, however, he found more regular work at rival Marvel Comics
, where he debuted on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
#4 (Sept. 1968), a fill-in issue of the acclaimed and influential writer-artist Jim Steranko
's signature series. Springer penciled and inked an origin-story retelling (scripted by Roy Thomas
) sandwiched between Steranko's final two issues. Springer then succeeded the departed Steranko, drawing issues #6-11 (Nov 1968 - April 1969), with Steranko providing the famous covers of #6-7.
Springer additionally drew Captain Marvel
#13-14 (May–June 1969) and a Hercules
back-up story in Ka-Zar
#1 (Aug. 1970) before concentrating on his ongoing Dell work until 1973, when that company ceased publication.
-comics magazines in 1974 and '75, and then sprang from title to title, penciling sporadic issues of The Avengers
, Captain America
, The Spectacular Spider-Man
, and Spider-Woman
, among others, and also inked many Marvel and DC Comics.
He then became regular inker of Marvel's The Savage She-Hulk
over Mike Vosburg
during issues #10-22 (Nov. 1980 - Nov. 1981). He penciled a longer run of the superheroine series Dazzler
from #4-31 & 35 (June 1981 - March 1984 & Jan. 1985), plus the Dazzler stories in What If? Vol. 1, #34 (Aug. 1982) and Marvel Graphic Novel #12 (1984). Springer, additionally, wrote Dazzler #27-28 and co-wrote (with Jim Shooter
) #29 (July-Nov. 1983)
Springer's other 1980s comics include issues of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and its toy
-license titles based on the properties G.I. Joe
and Transformers; and, for DC, a return to the Secret Six in Action Comics Weekly
, and issues of Manhunter
and Green Arrow
, issue #68 (Nov. 1992). After a brief hiatus from comics, he returned to co-ink, with Michael Weaver, Claypool Comics
' Phantom of Fear City #11-12 (Feb. & May 1995), his last confirmed work in comics except for a single-page profile of the DC character Perry White
in Superman Secret Files #1 (Jan. 1998).
Miscellanea includes the Atlas/Seaboard series Cougar in the 1970s, and Continuity Comics
' Armor in the 1990s.
With the dark-humor
writer-provocateur Michael O'Donoghue
, Springer from 1965-66 drew "The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist
" in the magazine Evergreen Review
. The feature was one of the first mature-audience comics in the U.S., following the French feature "Barbarella" in Evergreen Review in 1965. Others in the vein included Playboy
s "Little Annie Fanny
" and Magazine Enterprises
' "The Adventures of Pussycat
". Unlike its innocently bawdy contemporaries, "Phoebe Zeit-Geist", had a darker, sometimes brutal edge, with scenes of bondage
depicted as torture rather than Bettie Page
-like playfulness. Evergreen Review publisher Grove Press
collected the series as a 1968 book.
Springer also drew the series "Frank Fleet" for Evergreen Review from 1969–70, and from 1971-88 was a regular contributor to the satiric
magazine National Lampoon, occasionally using the pseudonyms Francis Hollidge and Bob Monhegan Doonesbury
comic-strip creator Garry Trudeau
cited the strip as an early inspiration, saying, "[A] very heavy influence was a serial in the Sixties called 'Phoebe Zeitgeist'. . . . It was an absolutely brilliant, deadpan send-up of adventure comics, but with a very edgy, modernist kind of approach. To this day, I hold virtually every panel in my brain. It's very hard not to steal from it."
newspaper
strip Rex Morgan, M.D.
from 1979-81. He also drew the Incredible Hulk
newspaper strip, starring the Marvel Comics' antihero; the romance strip The Virtue of Vera Valiant, with writer Stan Lee
; and The Adventures of Hedley Kase in the 1990s. Springer's cartoon art has appeared in Games Magazine, Muppets Magazine, the New York Daily News, Playboy, Sports Illustrated for Kids
, and elsewhere.
In the 1960s, he did unspecified work on the animated TV series Space Ghost
.
. In 1995, after spending the majority of his life on Long Island (mostly in the towns of Lynbrook
, Massapequa Park
, and Greenlawn
), Springer and wife Barbara (née Bunting), whom he married in 1956, moved to Maine, where the artist turned to the medium of oil painting
. He said in 2004, "There were some raggedy times, but I always had work, raised five kids, bought some houses, bought some cars. . . . I've been lucky".
Springer died on April 2, 2009, at his home in Damariscotta, Maine
, of prostate cancer
. He was survived by his wife and five grown children: Barbara Edwards, Bill Springer, Jennifer Dills, Jon Springer, and Christopher Springer. Characterizing Springer, Archie comics artist Stan Goldberg
said, "Very few people could surpass him as an artist, as a gentleman, and as a true gentleman in my field. . . . When you see a Frank Springer job, you know it's going to be the best job in the world".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
and comic strip
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
best known for Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Dazzler
Dazzler
Dazzler is a Marvel Comics superheroine, associated with the X-Men. She first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #130 ....
and Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
. Collaborating with writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
, Springer created one of the first adult-oriented comics features on American newsstands—The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist
The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist
"The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist" was an American comic strip, written by Michael O'Donoghue and drawn by Frank Springer. It was published as a serial in the magazine Evergreen Review and later in book form as a Grove Press hardcover in 1968 and trade paperback in 1969. It was reissued as a...
in the magazine Evergreen Review
Evergreen Review
Evergreen Review is a U.S.-based literary magazine founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 through 1973, and was re-launched online in 1998...
. A multiple winner of the National Cartoonists Society
National Cartoonists Society
The National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
's Reuben Award, Springer was a president of the Society and a founding member of the Berndt Toast Gang, its Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
chapter.
Early life and career
Jamaica, Queens
Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the "Town of Jamaica"...
neighborhood of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough of Queens, and graduated from Malverne High School in Malverne
Malverne, New York
Malverne is a village in the town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 8,514 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land.-History:...
, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York, in 1948. He had one sibling, a sister, who predeceased him. Springer went on to earn an art degree from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
in 1952, and then served with the U.S. Army through 1954, including during the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
, when he drew maps at Fort Dix, New Jersey
Fort Dix, New Jersey
JB MDL Dix , better known as Fort Dix, is a United States Army base located approximately south-southeast of Trenton, New Jersey. Dix is under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Reserve Command...
. In 1953, he became assistant to cartoonist
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
George Wunder
George Wunder
George S. Wunder was a cartoonist best known for his 26 years illustrating the Terry and the Pirates comic strip....
on the comic strip Terry and the Pirates
Terry and the Pirates (comic strip)
Terry and the Pirates was an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, had admired Caniff’s work on the children's adventure strip Dickie Dare and hired him to create the new adventure strip,...
, on which Wunder had succeeded famed creator Milt Caniff. Leaving in 1960 to freelance, Springer broke into comic books two years later with Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
' Brain Boy
Brain Boy
Brain Boy was a short-lived superhero comic published by Dell Comics in the early 1960s.Brain Boy was Matt Price. When his mother was still pregnant with him, a car accident with an electrical tower killed his father and gave him mental powers. These power would include telepathy, levitation, and...
, starring a telepathic government agent created by Herb Castle and Gil Kane
Gil Kane
Eli Katz who worked under the name Gil Kane and in one instance Scott Edward, was a comic book artist whose career spanned the 1940s to 1990s and every major comics company and character.Kane co-created the modern-day versions of the superheroes Green Lantern and the Atom for DC Comics, and...
in Four Color Comics #1330 (June 1962). Springer drew the spin-off series' five-issue run of #2-6 (Sept. 1962 - Nov. 1963).
Silver Age comics
During the remainder of the 1960s and the early 1970s period that fans and historians call the Silver Age of comic booksSilver Age of Comic Books
The Silver Age of Comic Books was a period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly those in the superhero genre. Following the Golden Age of Comic Books and an interregnum in the early to mid-1950s, the Silver Age is considered to cover the...
, Springer became a prolific penciler-inker
Inker
The inker is one of the two line artists in a traditional comic book or graphic novel. After a pencilled drawing is given to the inker, the inker uses black ink to produce refined outlines over the pencil lines...
across much of Dell's line, drawing issues of Ghost Stories, Movie Classic, Tales from the Tomb, Toka: Jungle King, and the movie/TV tie-in series The Big Valley
The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
, Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan
Charlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
, Iron Horse and The New People, among other comics.
He debuted at DC Comics
DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...
with two comics the same month: penciling Batman
Batman
Batman is a fictional character created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger. A comic book superhero, Batman first appeared in Detective Comics #27 , and since then has appeared primarily in publications by DC Comics...
#197, and both penciling and inking the lead feature, "Dial H for Hero
Dial H for Hero
Dial H for Hero is a comic book feature published by DC Comics about a mysterious dial that enables an ordinary person to become a superhero for a short time, by selecting the letters H-E-R-O in order. Each time it is used, the dial causes its possessor to become a superhero with a different name,...
", in House of Mystery
House of Mystery
The House of Mystery is the name of several horror-mystery-suspense anthology comic book series. It had a companion series, House of Secrets.-Genesis:...
#171 (both Dec. 1967). Springer went on to draw an issue each of Detective Comics
Detective Comics
Detective Comics is an American comic book series published monthly by DC Comics since 1937, best known for introducing the iconic superhero Batman in Detective Comics #27 . It is, along with Action Comics, the book that launched with the debut of Superman, one of the medium's signature series, and...
and Our Army at War; an anthological story in another House of Mystery; and the first two issues of Secret Six
Secret Six (comics)
The Secret Six is the name of three different fictional comic book teams in the , plus an alternate universe's fourth team. Each team has had six members, led by a mysterious figure named Mockingbird, whom the characters assume to be one of the other five members.-Original Secret Six:The Secret Six...
— the initial one perhaps uniquely beginning its story on the cover rather than on the inside page one.
After that smattering, however, he found more regular work at rival Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
, where he debuted on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Nick Fury
Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury is a fictional World War II army hero and present-day super-spy in the Marvel Comics universe. Created by artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, Fury first appeared in Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1 , a World War II combat series that portrayed the...
#4 (Sept. 1968), a fill-in issue of the acclaimed and influential writer-artist Jim Steranko
Jim Steranko
James F. Steranko is an American graphic artist, comic book writer-artist-historian, magician, publisher and film production illustrator....
's signature series. Springer penciled and inked an origin-story retelling (scripted by Roy Thomas
Roy Thomas
Roy William Thomas, Jr. is an American comic book writer and editor, and Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics. He is possibly best known for introducing the pulp magazine hero Conan the Barbarian to American comics, with a series that added to the storyline of Robert E...
) sandwiched between Steranko's final two issues. Springer then succeeded the departed Steranko, drawing issues #6-11 (Nov 1968 - April 1969), with Steranko providing the famous covers of #6-7.
Springer additionally drew Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (Marvel Comics)
Captain Marvel is the name of several fictional superheroes appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Most of these versions exist in Marvel's main shared universe, known as the Marvel Universe.- Publication history :...
#13-14 (May–June 1969) and a Hercules
Hercules (Marvel Comics)
Hercules is a fictional character that appears in publications by Marvel Comics. The character first appears in Journey into Mystery Annual #1 and was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby....
back-up story in Ka-Zar
Ka-Zar
Ka-Zar is the name of two jungle-dwelling comics fictional characters published in the United States. The first appeared in pulp magazines of the 1930s, and was adapted for his second iteration, as a comic book character for Timely Comics, the 1930s and 1940s predecessor of Marvel Comics...
#1 (Aug. 1970) before concentrating on his ongoing Dell work until 1973, when that company ceased publication.
Later comic books
Springer returned to draw a handful of stories for Marvel's black-and-white horrorHorror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
-comics magazines in 1974 and '75, and then sprang from title to title, penciling sporadic issues of The Avengers
Avengers (comics)
The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers is a fictional team of superheroes, appearing in magazines published by Marvel Comics. The team made its debut in The Avengers #1 The Avengers...
, Captain America
Captain America
Captain America is a fictional character, a superhero that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
, The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man
The Spectacular Spider-Man is the name of several comic books and one magazine series starring Marvel Comics' Spider-Man.The character's main series, The Amazing Spider-Man, was extremely successful, and Marvel felt the character could support more than one title. This led the company in 1968 to...
, and Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman
Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters in comic books published by Marvel Comics.-Publication history:Marvel Comics' then-publisher Stan Lee, said in 1978, shortly after Spider-Woman's debut in Marvel Spotlight #32 Spider-Woman is the codename of several fictional characters...
, among others, and also inked many Marvel and DC Comics.
He then became regular inker of Marvel's The Savage She-Hulk
She-Hulk
She-Hulk is a Marvel Comics superheroine. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema, she first appeared in Savage She-Hulk #1 ....
over Mike Vosburg
Mike Vosburg
Mike Vosburg is an American comic book artist primarily known for his work on the Tales from the Crypt TV series.-Biography:...
during issues #10-22 (Nov. 1980 - Nov. 1981). He penciled a longer run of the superheroine series Dazzler
Dazzler
Dazzler is a Marvel Comics superheroine, associated with the X-Men. She first appeared in Uncanny X-Men #130 ....
from #4-31 & 35 (June 1981 - March 1984 & Jan. 1985), plus the Dazzler stories in What If? Vol. 1, #34 (Aug. 1982) and Marvel Graphic Novel #12 (1984). Springer, additionally, wrote Dazzler #27-28 and co-wrote (with Jim Shooter
Jim Shooter
James Shooter is an American writer, occasional fill-in artist, editor, and publisher for various comic books. Although he started professionally in the medium at the extraordinarily young age of 14, he is most notable for his successful and controversial run as Marvel Comics' ninth...
) #29 (July-Nov. 1983)
Springer's other 1980s comics include issues of Marvel's Conan the Barbarian and its toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
-license titles based on the properties G.I. Joe
G.I. Joe (comics)
G.I. Joe has been the title of comic strips and comic books in every decade since 1942. As a licensed property by Hasbro, comics have been released from 1967 to present, with only two interruptions longer than a year . As a team fighting Cobra since 1982, the comic book history of G.I...
and Transformers; and, for DC, a return to the Secret Six in Action Comics Weekly
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
, and issues of Manhunter
Manhunter (comics)
-Golden Age:The first of DC's Manhunters was a non-costumed independent investigator, Paul Kirk, who helped police solve crimes during the early 1940s. Though the series was titled "Paul Kirk, Manhunter", Kirk didn't use the Manhunter name as an alias...
and Green Arrow
Green Arrow
Green Arrow is a fictional superhero that appears in comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, he first appeared in More Fun Comics #73 in November 1941. His secret identity is Oliver Queen, billionaire and former mayor of fictional Star City...
, issue #68 (Nov. 1992). After a brief hiatus from comics, he returned to co-ink, with Michael Weaver, Claypool Comics
Claypool Comics
Claypool Comics is an American comic book publishing company created in 1993, known for publishing such titles as Peter David's Soulsearchers and Company and Elvira, Mistress of the Dark comics, as well as Richard Howell's Deadbeats and, , Phantom of Fear City...
' Phantom of Fear City #11-12 (Feb. & May 1995), his last confirmed work in comics except for a single-page profile of the DC character Perry White
Perry White
Perry White is a fictional character who appears in the Superman comics. White is the Editor-in-Chief of the Metropolis newspaper the Daily Planet.White maintains very high ethical and journalistic standards...
in Superman Secret Files #1 (Jan. 1998).
Miscellanea includes the Atlas/Seaboard series Cougar in the 1970s, and Continuity Comics
Continuity Comics
Continuity Publishing, also known as Continuity Comics, was an American independent comic book company formed by Neal Adams in 1984, publishing comics until 1994....
' Armor in the 1990s.
Adult satire
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
writer-provocateur Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue was a writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to National Lampoon magazine, and was the first head writer of Saturday Night Live.-Childhood:O'Donoghue was born Michael Henry Donohue in Sauquoit, New York...
, Springer from 1965-66 drew "The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist
The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist
"The Adventures of Phoebe Zeit-Geist" was an American comic strip, written by Michael O'Donoghue and drawn by Frank Springer. It was published as a serial in the magazine Evergreen Review and later in book form as a Grove Press hardcover in 1968 and trade paperback in 1969. It was reissued as a...
" in the magazine Evergreen Review
Evergreen Review
Evergreen Review is a U.S.-based literary magazine founded by Barney Rosset, publisher of Grove Press. It existed in print from 1957 through 1973, and was re-launched online in 1998...
. The feature was one of the first mature-audience comics in the U.S., following the French feature "Barbarella" in Evergreen Review in 1965. Others in the vein included Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
s "Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny
Little Annie Fanny was a comic strip created by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder for Playboy in October 1962. The inspiration for the comic strip was Harold Gray's Little Orphan Annie. The comic follows the escapades of Annie Fanny, a tall, blonde, amply breasted, round buttocked, curly-haired young...
" and Magazine Enterprises
Magazine Enterprises
Magazine Enterprises was an American comic book company lasting from 1943 to 1958, which published primarily Western, humor, crime, adventure, and children's comics, with virtually no superheroes...
' "The Adventures of Pussycat
The Adventures of Pussycat
The Adventures of Pussycat was a risqué, black-and-white comics feature that ran throughout various men's adventure magazines published by Martin Goodman's Magazine Management Company in the 1960s...
". Unlike its innocently bawdy contemporaries, "Phoebe Zeit-Geist", had a darker, sometimes brutal edge, with scenes of bondage
Bondage (BDSM)
Bondage is the use of restraints for the sexual pleasure of the parties involved. It may be used in its own right, as in the case of rope bondage and breast bondage, or as part of sexual activity or BDSM activity.- Private bondage :...
depicted as torture rather than Bettie Page
Bettie Page
Bettie Mae Page was an American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She has often been called the "Queen of Pinups"...
-like playfulness. Evergreen Review publisher Grove Press
Grove Press
Grove Press is an American publishing imprint that was founded in 1951. Imprints include: Black Cat, Evergreen, Venus Library, Zebra. Barney Rosset purchased the company in 1951 and turned it into an alternative book press in the United States. The Atlantic Monthly Press, under the aegis of its...
collected the series as a 1968 book.
Springer also drew the series "Frank Fleet" for Evergreen Review from 1969–70, and from 1971-88 was a regular contributor to the satiric
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
magazine National Lampoon, occasionally using the pseudonyms Francis Hollidge and Bob Monhegan Doonesbury
Doonesbury
Doonesbury is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau, that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, Michael Doonesbury, who has progressed from a college...
comic-strip creator Garry Trudeau
Garry Trudeau
Garretson Beekman "Garry" Trudeau is an American cartoonist, best known for the Doonesbury comic strip.-Background and education:...
cited the strip as an early inspiration, saying, "[A] very heavy influence was a serial in the Sixties called 'Phoebe Zeitgeist'. . . . It was an absolutely brilliant, deadpan send-up of adventure comics, but with a very edgy, modernist kind of approach. To this day, I hold virtually every panel in my brain. It's very hard not to steal from it."
Comic strips and cartoons
After having assisted Wunder on Terry and the Pirates from 1955–60 and then moving to comic books, Springer returned to comic strips as penciler of the syndicatedPrint syndication
Print syndication distributes news articles, columns, comic strips and other features to newspapers, magazines and websites. They offer reprint rights and grant permissions to other parties for republishing content of which they own/represent copyrights....
newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
strip Rex Morgan, M.D.
Rex Morgan, M.D.
Rex Morgan, M.D. is an American soap-opera comic strip, created in 1948 by psychiatrist Dr. Nicholas P. Dallis under the pseudonym Dal Curtis. It maintained a readership well over a half-century, and in 2006 it was published in more than 300 U.S. newspapers and 14 foreign countries, according to...
from 1979-81. He also drew the Incredible Hulk
Hulk (comics)
The Hulk is a fictional character, a superhero in the . Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in The Incredible Hulk #1 ....
newspaper strip, starring the Marvel Comics' antihero; the romance strip The Virtue of Vera Valiant, with writer Stan Lee
Stan Lee
Stan Lee is an American comic book writer, editor, actor, producer, publisher, television personality, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics....
; and The Adventures of Hedley Kase in the 1990s. Springer's cartoon art has appeared in Games Magazine, Muppets Magazine, the New York Daily News, Playboy, Sports Illustrated for Kids
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
, and elsewhere.
In the 1960s, he did unspecified work on the animated TV series Space Ghost
Space Ghost
Space Ghost is a fictional superhero created by Hanna-Barbera Productions and designed by Alex Toth for CBS in the 1960s. In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his sidekick teen helpers Jan, Jace, and Blip the monkey, fought supervillains in outer space...
.
Later years and death
In 1982, just shy of his 53rd birthday, Springer ran the New York City MarathonNew York City Marathon
The New York City Marathon is a major annual marathon that courses through the five boroughs of New York City. It is one of the largest marathons in the world, with 45,103 finishers in 2010...
. In 1995, after spending the majority of his life on Long Island (mostly in the towns of Lynbrook
Lynbrook, New York
Lynbrook is a village in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 19,427 at the 2010 census. The Village of Lynbrook is inside the Town of Hempstead. The Village of Lynbrook's current mayor is William Hendrick....
, Massapequa Park
Massapequa Park, New York
The Village of Massapequa Park is a village located within the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, New York, USA. The population was 17,008 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, and Greenlawn
Greenlawn, New York
Greenlawn is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 13,286 at the 2000 census. Students primarily attend the Harborfields Central School District...
), Springer and wife Barbara (née Bunting), whom he married in 1956, moved to Maine, where the artist turned to the medium of oil painting
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
. He said in 2004, "There were some raggedy times, but I always had work, raised five kids, bought some houses, bought some cars. . . . I've been lucky".
Springer died on April 2, 2009, at his home in Damariscotta, Maine
Damariscotta, Maine
Damariscotta is a town in Lincoln County, Maine, United States. The population was 2,041 at the 2000 census. A popular tourist resort area, the towns of Damariscotta and Newcastle are linked by the Main Street bridge over the Damariscotta River, forming the "Twin Villages." The name Damariscotta is...
, of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
. He was survived by his wife and five grown children: Barbara Edwards, Bill Springer, Jennifer Dills, Jon Springer, and Christopher Springer. Characterizing Springer, Archie comics artist Stan Goldberg
Stan Goldberg
Stan Goldberg is an American comic book artist best known for his work as a flagship artist of Archie Comics and as a Marvel Comics' 1960s colorist, who helped design the original color schemes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and other major characters.-Career:Stan Goldberg began work in the...
said, "Very few people could surpass him as an artist, as a gentleman, and as a true gentleman in my field. . . . When you see a Frank Springer job, you know it's going to be the best job in the world".
Awards
- National Cartoonists SocietyNational Cartoonists SocietyThe National Cartoonists Society is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the troops...
Reuben Award — Comic Books (Story): 1973, 1977, 1981 - Inkpot AwardInkpot AwardThe Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
: 2004